Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Discovering the Gift




Len and I are both in From Stage Door Shadows!  We thought it would be fun to do a blog swap. 
guest posting about speculative fiction, while she’s interviewed her on my blog. 


What’s the name of your story?

Discovering the Gift


What is your short story about?

It’s about a boy with cerebral palsy with a gift of teleportation, telekinesis and mind-reading.

Where did the idea of your story come from?

There aren’t many books available that have characters with a physical or learning disability. I have a son who has Lennox Gastaut syndrome and cerebral palsy and I’ve been looking for books to read to him, something that he can relate to. So I thought perhaps if there’s very limited books out there, I’d like to write one. My son was the inspiration of that story which really is a complete manuscript but there’s a lot of plot holes so I thought I’d turn it into a short story.


What did you learn from going through the editing experience?

It was a learning experience for me. It was fun and also scary. I didn’t want to make a mistake or to lose the opportunity by not being able to meet the standards of the publisher. But I’m lucky because Jodi Cleghorn, the founding partner and editor of eMergent Publishing, is very supportive and helpful. I’m very grateful to her and eMergent. It’s been a very good experience.

Do you have a specific genre you write or do you write in a variety of genres?

I write middle grade and women’s fiction.


What are you working on now?

I’m working on two manuscripts at the moment. I’m in the middle of writing a story about a mother who died in her sleep and found herself still in her house even though she’s passed on. I’ve got a temporary title, “When I close my Eyes”. I’m hoping this will see the light of day (cringe). Another story I’m working on is about a boy who has epilepsy. His condition is similar to “Jarryd”, my character in “Discovering the Gift” but this is more realistic, a family story. I’m not very sure yet if this will be a middle grade novel. I’ve written the manuscript more than five times and each began differently. So I have a set of five different 3 to 10 chapters of the same idea but different story structures!


Quick Writing Questions:

Plotter or panster? A mixture of both.

Quiet or music? Quiet. I can’t concentrate with any music on. I’ve tried many times but really can’t.

Laptop or desktop? Desktop

Coffee or tea? Tea. White tea.

Wine or other?  No wine for me. I love coconut water and freshly extracted fruit juice. If I’m out, I’m pretty boring because I don’t drink. I can drink half a glass of red wine, nothing more than that or my knees start to wobble.

Day or night? Night. And sometimes, very early in the morning, around 3 or 4 a.m. when I can’t or haven’t had any sleep at all – that’s when I write.


From Stage Door Shadows can be found at:







37 comments:

  1. I'm exactly the same, Len! Early morning or night! Strange how the inspiration dulls in the middle of the day.

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  2. Sounds like a fascinating story! And my son is crazy about coconut water, too, which I confess I don't really understand. Best of luck with Discovering the Gift!

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  3. Coconut water is the bomb! And I need quiet also. I would love to read Jarryd's story some day. I have a student with this, and I think it would be great to have a good story with epilepsy as a part of it.

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  4. Sounds like a great story Len. And loved hearing more about your writing process. I like to write early in the am, but not quite as early as you. Good luck with Discovering the Gift!

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  5. Awwww how wonderful! Hi Len, hi Theresa!! Yay for your stories in this fine anthology! Good luck with your wips, Len! Two!! Yay! Take care
    x

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  6. I'm an early writer. I love writing late, but can't sleep if I do that.

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  7. Congratulations to both of you! This sounds like a wonderful story. I also like to write early, I've always been an early bird.

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  8. Congratulations, Len! It sounds like a great story!

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  9. That's a wonderful idea for a story!

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  10. Thanks for swapping posts with me today, Theresa. I've enjoyed reading your post and watching the video. Thanks everyone for the visit and lovely comments :)

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  11. Loved reading more about you, Len. Good luck with your future projects.

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  12. Love the story "Discovering the Gift!", Kudos Len!

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  13. I like the idea of writing a story about a protagonist with a disability, because I'm sure that there are many readers who can relate to that. It always helps people to read about other people who have gone through what they are going through; it makes them feel like they're not alone.

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    1. Hi Neurotic Workaholic. I hope that I finish any one of my novels so I could get started with the editing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you for your comment.

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  14. This sounds like a beautiful story. I love non-standard protagonists.

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  15. Great book premise. It's true there are far fewer books with characters who have disabilities compared to the number of characters who are "normal".

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  16. Fun interview, and great story ideas, Len! My favorite book about a kid with different abilities is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Although, along the same lines, but completely different book and also excellent, is Tara Kelly's Harmonic Feedback.

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    1. Hi Vicky - I've read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, too, and loved it!

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  17. The characters sound fascinating. I can't write with music on either!

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  18. That is so inspiring! I always say we have to write the book that isn't there, and such a story strikes me as exactly that. I also can't write with music by the way, it's just impossible!
    Cheers!

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    1. I must add, when there's music in the background, I tend to listen to the lyrics and when it's instrumental I can't think! :(

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  19. I love the idea of your story, especially a challenged MC. There should be more stories about different kinds of people.

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  20. I need to buy this book. I am absolutely, completely inspired by the story behind the story. I have a son with global disabilities, so I adore the fact that there's a character who is differently-abled! Awesome!

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  21. great to meet you Len! I love where you got the story idea. :)
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  22. What a great idea to blog swap. It was great reading more about Len and her writing. I tried searching for a Kindle edition. I hope it's available in the future.

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  23. Hi Len and Theresa .. the anthology has turned out well for you both - I'm looking forward to reading it. I was interested to hear of your son's condition .. the more we can learn that there are so many different diseases/disabilities out there - the more we can understand (a little) ... thanks for letting me know so I could look it up - with thoughts to you both .. love the blog swop idea ..

    Cheers Hilary

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  24. Sounds like a cool story. I like that you were inspired by your son.

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  25. Hi Len and Theresa!

    Loved reading about you Len. All the best!

    Now off to read Theresa's piece!

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  26. Great interview. Sounds like an intriguing story. Thanks for introducing me to Len and her work.

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  27. Such a fun blog swap! I like the idea of writing on little or no sleep, late at night.

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